Support for Andrew Luck to win the 2011 Heisman Trophy has reached a new high.

The Stanford quarterback grabbed nine of 13 first-place votes and totaled 35 points to leave the competition well behind in the latest Heismanpundit.com Heisman Straw Poll released on Wednesday (Oct. 26).

It’s the most support Luck has received in the poll, which surveys 13 Heisman voters from around the country each week during the college football season. Luck has been atop all nine of this season’s polls, but his previous best was 34 points in the preseason poll released on August 30.

“He’s the most outstanding player in the country until someone else proves otherwise,” said one voter on the panel.

Alabama running back Trent Richardson took second place with 12 points and 1 first-place vote, while Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore tied for third with 10 points (though Griffin III picked up 2 first-place votes as part of his total). Houston quarterback Case Keenum, who just broke the NCAA career total offense mark, was fifth with 5 points and 1 first-place vote.

Quarterback Tajh Boyd of Clemson (2 points) took sixth in his straw poll debut, while quarterbacks Russell Wilson of Wisconsin and Brandon Weeden of Oklahoma State, plus receivers Robert Woods of USC and Sammy Watkins of Clemson were all knotted in a tie for seventh place with 1 point apiece.

Note on balloting: Luck was named on 100% of all ballots (13 out of 13), while Richardson and Moore made 46% (6 of 13), Griffin III 38% (5 of 13), Keenum 23% (4 of 13), Boyd 15% (2 of 13) and the rest 8% (1 of 13).

Now in its sixth season, the HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll is made up of 13 Heisman voters from across the country. They vote for three players each week. Tabulations are made on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points awarded for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. In each of the last three years, the final Heismanpundit poll was the most accurate Heisman poll in the country.

The 2011 Heismanpundit Straw Poll, 10-26-2011Player, total points (first place votes in parentheses)

1. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford — 35 (9)

2. Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — 12 (1)

3T. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor — 10 (2)

3T. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State — 10

5. Case Keenum, QB, Houston — 5 (1)

6. Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson — 2

7T. Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin — 1

7T. Brandon Weeden, QB, Oklahoma State — 1

7T. Robert Woods, WR, USC — 1

7T. Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson — 1

About the Voting Panel
The 13 members of the panel include: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Teddy Greenstein and Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Olin Buchanan of Rivals.com, Tom Dienhart of The Big Ten Network, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman, Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports, J.B. Morris of ESPN the Magazine, Austin Murphy, B.J. Schecter and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, plus Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News. Chris Huston, publisher of Heismanpundit.com, coordinates and also votes in the weekly poll.

About Heismanpundit

Chris Huston, A.K.A. ‘The Heisman Pundit‘, is a Heisman voter and the creator and publisher of Heismanpundit.com, a site dedicated to analysis of the Heisman Trophy and college football.
Dubbed “the foremost authority on the Heisman” by Sports Illustrated, HP is regularly quoted or cited during football season in newspapers across the country. He is also a regular contributor on sports talk radio and television.